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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25437811">Oops, you adopted a Heartless!</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Incyray/pseuds/Incyray'>Incyray</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Drabble Collection, Heartless (Kingdom Hearts) - Freeform, Heartless - Freeform, Heartless Character, Heartless OC, Heartless-centric fic, Horror Hunger, Hurt/Comfort, Leo is kind of like Veri's service animal lmao, Other, Sol is the name of the dude who enslaved Veri for gladiator stuff btw, Soldier Heartless, Veri commits Heartless cannibalism a few times, Veri has PTSD, Violence, a pinch of romance, a pinch of vore too, except he's a person, kinda angsty in here at times</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 07:34:04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>17,478</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25437811</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Incyray/pseuds/Incyray</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of various drabbles/short stories I wrote about my character Veri, back when he was a Heartless fan character.</p><p>This fic's protagonist is a Heartless!<br/>lmao screw the rest of KH I'm here for the monsters :V</p><p>(chapters are connected only loosely, but I tried to arrange them in semi-chronological order)<br/>Written before KH3.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Veri/Leo (moirallegiance)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Coalescing Void</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>So, here's some context:</p><p>Veri is a soldier Heartless that was manufactured right at the end of the 'Xehanort wars'. Veri survives this time narrowly, simply by the lucky fact that he born too late to ever face Sora and co. in combat. Of course, Veri's luck is not all good- shortly after the conflict with 'nort and co. ends and Veri becomes free to do as he pleases, he's captured by the owner of gladiator arena and enslaved for forced combat (as an 'animal' to be fought in venatios). (This is accomplished through use of a keyblade-locked collar of solid Light, which bars Veri from using Corridors of Darkness and acts a conduit for his owner's Light-based magic, effectively functioning as a shock collar. Veri is kept alive because Heartless have become a scarce resource following the end of the 'nort wars'.) Veri eventually manages to escape the arena, however- prompting a keyblader to be called in to slay him. Veri, however, has become a way more skilled fighter than the average Heartless, and manages to direly wound the keyblader and get away- albeit with some grievous wounds of his own.</p><p>This is the point at which Leo meets Veri; Leo, being a mage, was called in as backup to help hunt down the escaped Heartless. Leo, however, is the type of person who catches spiders in cups. When Leo finds Veri, Veri is struggling to walk and has a gaping, smoking wound in his chest. So... rather than kill him, Leo gets curious and decides to see how Veri would respond to being handed a healing a potion. It's tense, but Leo's gentle tone and act of kindness manages to start earning Veri's trust. From there, Leo decides that he's going to keep Veri, and attempt to train him to resist his urge to devour Hearts- so that Veri can be allowed to live, and hopefully have a better life than he had before.</p><p>Leo and Veri become very close friends after that.</p>
    </blockquote><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>
  <b>
    <span class="u">A funky, unfinished drabble which describes the generation of an emblem Heartless within the manufactory from Veri's perspective.</span>
  </b>
</p><p>(he's inside one of those wall-mounted test tubes which are seen to contain Hearts inside the manufactory.)</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>There is a coolness to the temperature of.. somewhere. It is dark, a comforting absence of.. a danger? Gradually, sensation reaches in from beyond, confirming, gently, a solidification of existence. As though a faint, pale outline were coming into focus, a shape develops. Limbs, claws.. a torso, and a face. Black, black as the surrounding Darkness.. but denser, somehow. And more lively; twitching antennae atop the head, sensing… finally, piercing the Darkness- luminous yellow eyes. I see only the Darkness for a moment, but then-</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Light, blinding me by forcing me to shut my eyes... When they are closed, I am briefly reunited with the comforting Darkness. But when I find the courage to open them again, I am reminded that the Darkness is gone. Replaced by Light…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As my vision comes into focus, however, I begin to gain a tolerance for it. Although the Darkness is deeply comforting, the arrival of the Light brought with it a new and interesting environment. Curious, I glance around, observing and examining the strange structures around me. They seem complex, but I have no way of knowing what they are.. and I find that I don’t actually mind not knowing all that much.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Of much greater interest to me is something which is a part of my surroundings.. but which I somehow know to be different from the environment. It is an assortment of shimmering pink objects, whose visage stirs something within my own body.. I want them. I’m not sure why I want them, but the desire is strong. I find myself licking my newly discovered and very sharp teeth. I.. I want to consume the shimmering pink objects. But I can’t reach them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Barring my access is another object of particular note, which when touched is proven to be a sort of barrier. It is clear, but with a shiny, smooth surface. At its bottom and top however it is opaque and gray, though still shiny. I find myself fascinated with the barrier, running my claws over it and testing its strength by putting my weight on it. The barrier does not give, until…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Something from the other side of the barrier movers into view, and touches it. Startled, I recoil my limbs from the inner surface. The thing on the outside, which has a texture similar to the gray ends of the barrier, grasps it and pulls. With me inside, it lifts the whole barrier, away from what I realize must be other barriers sitting still around it.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Wild Hunter</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>This is set before Veri meets Leo (or Sol, the owner of the gladiator arena)- it takes place back when he was still 'wild'.</p><p>It mostly just explores my headcannons about sociality and hivemind stuff in the Heartless.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Hunger. An inescapable, soul-drowning, forever droning sensation of emptiness and need. Feeling my Darkness twitch and roil- and feeling the Darkness of others do the same. The communication of the Hunger was constant; no other urge was so pervasive. In spite of the pain- <em>I’m so hungry, I’m so hungry, I’m so hungry,,</em>- the Hunger, the echoing of that powerful desire- bound the pack together.</p><p>We could feel the presence of prey all around us- many little tugs pulling us every so slightly toward distant Hearts. Closer- and a drive stronger than a chain, linked to a semi-truck, pulling one forth by the neck. We rushed at the opportunity, Darkness flowing in a frenzy, urging each other forward.</p><p>The strongest of the pack made the kill. Even within the flurry of ravenous claws, only that one’s blows really mattered. As they grasped their prize,-shimmering, subtly dangerous but overwhelmingly enticing- dissent manifested in the pack like a wave. As the winner ate, the rest of the pack watched with deep, frothing envy. In response, a lone yet mighty pulse of dominance, and balefully we settled down. We would have our chances yet.</p><p>Once, when the pack was spread thin, I came upon prey in my lonesome. The pack could feel it through me, and several of them hurried to have a go at the prey I’d found. To keep it for myself, I made my kill quickly- rushing upon the prey and relentlessly slashing whilst it recovered from the blows before.</p><p>A lovely red slunk down my claws, but failed to stain the Heart that they now held. With rapturous joy, I felt the hunger die down for the first time in my life- and the pack’s furious jealousy, now aimed at me, felt surprisingly dull in that ecstatic bliss. However, as I tore apart the Heart and spilt its delicious Darkness, felt it begin to twitch and flow- my liberation made its fleetingness known.</p><p>Underneath the subtle warmth of kinship that I felt whilst foreign, but newly born Darkness reached out to my rhythm with its own; there was a sense of dissatisfaction. I did not feel full. My offspring, a new packmate looking at me with tentative pulses of curiosity- the Heart’s Darkness which I had reached out to, assimilated- <em>the first meal I’d ever eaten...</em> For a brief flicker of time I- we were aware of the fact that we would never stop chasing a truly ephemeral satisfaction.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. The sounds of Darkness</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Leo discusses his observations of the small sounds that the Heartless sometimes make.</p><p>(I really like the 'Heartless make little chirping sounds' headcannon that I've seen floating around)</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>There’s sounds to it, now that I know to listen for them. It’s all very quiet, and very sparse- but the scant few sounds that are made are thus quite significant. They only make the sounds when they’re close together, but they don’t make them to communicate serious meaning. They do that voicelessly, pulsing intent directly from mind to mind. Instead, the purpose is to confirm, especially to confirm bonds. It’s the same as whenever one of them intentionally makes physical contact with another- they’re using other senses to back up the information that they’re transmitting metaphysically. Personally, I also think that there’s a vestige of being a mundane organism in there- an out of context instinct to touch and to vocalize, even though there’s no need.</p><p>
  <span>The sounds that they make are interestingly soft. Little rolling chirps, like a cricket; and a faint whine, like a creaking door- but so very quiet. No loud or harsh sounds- nothing which draws the attention of predator nor prey. (It’s also worth noting that loud sounds tend to startle the smaller ones, and that even the very large ones maintain the same incredibly low volume, sounding wrong for their size.)</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The chirps are the most versatile sound, used for greeting, but also made sporadically during prolonged moments of bonding. I think it’s meaning isn’t to say hello, but ‘I’m here, I’m your friend.’ </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The whine is associated with distress; they reserve this sound for when they’re irreparably damaged. A grievously wounded one will whine both to vent its pain, and to elicit a protective response from its kin. Like how chirping reaffirms and perhaps also requests to create bonds, whining begs for comfort. When none of them can cast Cure, the usual response to a whining(and thus terribly injured) individual is to chirp and to caress(albeit without the fervor which a human would expect), in addition to a desperate endeavor to drag the wounded to safety. <br/></span>
</p><p>
  <span>Extremely worthy of notice, however, is the fact that the sounds don’t carry as much meaning if there’s no metaphysical, intent communication to back it up. I learned how to copy their chirps and whines, but because I’m human- and thus can’t pulse intention directly from my mind in time with the sounds- my sounds tend to only elicit confusion when I make them. They hear me, and they recognize the sound- but there’s that missing part, which causes it to feel unsettling, like a 3 dimensional object with no shadow. Still, giving a soft chirp can still help to comfort one when it’s terrified beyond coherent thought, or after it’s become accustomed enough to your fake chirp for it to be meaningful when it’s merely anxious. <br/></span>
</p><p>
  <span>Physical contact with them is quite different from what a human would do. They’re always trading raw thoughts, and as such don’t need to be touching, or even in range with of vision or hearing, to know of each other's presence and location. Additionally, many strains are of very different sizes and shapes- some of the biggest of them could easily crush the smallest(and most common) kinds underfoot. <br/></span>
</p><p>
  <span>Caresses are thus limited to smooth, ironically gentle motions. They’ll brush an arm against another’s; or, at their most intimate- ghost their antennae over the other.  If the two are of comparable size and shape, they’ll dance their antennae over the top of the chest, where it meets the neck. If that isn’t possible, they’ll settle for the top of the head if taller, or whatever surface they can reach without jumping if smaller.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>These motions are very rare, however. The already discussed sounds are much more common- though the most prevalent action isn’t sensory in nature at all. Being that they can perceive each other’s emotional states and locations over huge distances, and communicate ideas instantaneously, simply being aware of presence isn’t all that special to them. However, being nearby and thus easily able to spring into action(to assist in defense or in pursuit of prey) is made quite meaningful on its own.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. *confetti* MORE PTSD!</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The cannon-ity of this bit is rather up for debate?</p><p>I had always kinda figured that Veri managed to survive for so long even in the face of the inevitable 'Heartless clean up efforts' post-'nort conflicts because he actively avoided keybearers (rather than attempting to attack/mob them like other Heartless would).</p><p>Naturally, my sadistic little brain decided that the most logical reason for such a change in Veri's behavior would be for his heightened fear of keyblade wielders to stem from him having been traumatized :V <i>fresh out of the manufactory, at that</i> <b>:V</b></p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>He was less than 5 hours old. <br/></span>
</p><p>
  <span>Veri was being rent apart, a terrible agony punching straight through his body. Soft and viscous insides were liquefied by the searing apparent heat of the metal he was impaled upon. Now-thin black fluid oozed through the new hole in the back of his chest and down the blade. <br/></span>
</p><p>
  <span>Something pressed its weight upon his belly, holding him down- while the blade was pulled out. Before he could turn his vision away from the wall and back at the enemy, the keyblade came crashing back down. He had no concept of it yet, <em>he just turned 5 hours old,</em> but it had the force of a hammer on an anvil. Dark pseudo-blood made a small spray upon the impact. </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Veri had never really been hurt before. He was too young to even know the pain of stubbing a toe. He was now very, very well educated on the subject of immobilizing, excruciating agony. </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>The third blow threatened to come wholly unopposed. Veri couldn’t even twitch, let alone squirm. His eyes had started to flicker, their sight momentarily becoming dominated by an uncharacteristically unpleasant darkness. His mind reeled around in every direction, unable to focus- while his body refused to move, despite still being a sliver semi-functional. </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>Veri only barely registered the other Heartless which came lunging to his defense. He could feel the angry hum of keyblade metal almost striking his face- only to be knocked away by some tremendous force which whisked nearby air into a small gust. Some roaring, furious intent- and combat sounds.. somewhere. </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>There were brief flashes of pain- but not Veri’s own- and audible bellows and clangs. Whoever had saved him was apparently capable of putting up quite the fight. </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>After a minute or two, to Veri’s bewilderment- the agony which had been holding him down became dulled. Not gone, but.. suppressed. And abruptly, with it- an intense and overwhelming terror. Suddenly his claws itched to be swung, and his legs tingled with an urge to run- though the pain was still there. </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>Veri scrambled back a small ways in an ungraceful flail, but struggled to do much more. Every movement hurt, even with the pain mysteriously weakened. However, finally able to aim his eyes and observe what was going on- he could see his rescuer fighting the keyblader. To his horror, the beastly Defender was being pushed back. He could feel the unease taking hold within them. The keyblade warrior seemed rather small compared to them- but they were so strong. A little wall of unbridled power, plowing its way through anything which dared to impede the ravenous glow of its Light. </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>Veri forced himself onto his hands and knees. He was not the predator here, despite the hunger which encouraged him to seek prey. Here, in this unbalanced battle of ten on one, he was the hunted creature. Limping for the nearest cover in a shambling failure to run, a horrible fear consumed his thoughts. He didn’t want to be devoured by the Light.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Capture</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Veri is captured by Sol, a light mage who owns a gladiator arena, as future fodder for some sort of damnatio ad bestias or venatio.</p><p>There was a bunch of manufatory stuff that prefaced this, but I cut that since I like the other iteration I made of such a scene better.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>I spent a long time roving from place to place with loose bands of my kin, hunting Hearts and carrying out the tasks given to us by greater kin (and by extension, Xehanort himself). A human would have called it a wasted childhood. I still don't quite understand that perception of my early life; I was never a child. I spent a mere half hour- from the moment of my 'birth' to when I departed the manufactory- 'learning the controls'. As soon as I knew how to use a corridor, I was ready. You do not need to teach a knife how to cut; it is able to do as so soon as it leaves the factory and is held in your hand. </p><p>Through all my early journeys, serving somewhat amusingly as a literal soldier, I came across the chance to consume a Heart twice. Though the Pull was an excellent guide, managing to pull off a kill without being slain by wielders of Light was surprisingly difficult. I didn't understand the depth of my circumstances at the time, but I been manufactured in one of the last batches of Heartless during the last leg of a long war. I was created only months before the end of the Xehanort wars. My extremely short-lived participation in said war, and some unimaginable streaks of luck were the sole reasons that I survived. The rest of my 'posse' had been slain by the time the war ended. Though we had scarcely shared any sort of meaningful relationships, I was still lonely towards the end. I'd seen them all die by way of either Keyblade or strong magic, and though there was little to be missed, I still longed for the company anyways. I had lost whole gangs before, but when I searched for replacements this last time, I found none. Production of new Soldiers had ceased, and our typical life expectancy during the war was only a few weeks at best. In those last days, it was hours. </p><p>It was when I no longer felt the presence of higher ups, and no new orders came, that I stopped searching for a new posse. Though I felt better hunting in a group, I was not going to find anyone without traversing many worlds and examining each very thoroughly. So I took to wandering and hunting alone, never having ceased in the hunt to begin with. The Hunger is an extremely powerful instinct, and to restrain it requires the absolutest of wills. I did not have that yet, though in the future beings which could sense willpower would tell me that I had accumulated enough of the stuff to forge what they assumed to be an imitation soul, spread throughout my Darkness. It would take years which had yet to pass for that accumulation to occur. </p><p>It was in my lone hunting that I had made my gravest mistake. Though cruel experience had taught me to avoid rather than attempt to fight Keybladers, I had never considered third-party threats. I had been aware of the Heart trailing me, following me through dark and dank alleyways. I thought of that Heart, twined with the Light, merely as prey which I could not yet catch by surprise. I was waiting for a chance to jump them. They jumped me. </p><p>I had never seen such a thing coming; the Light-bearing Heart snared me, caught me a trap it had passively chased me into. They'd carefully measured my steps and forced me to walk such that my foot was caught in a jawed trap. It was like a hunter's snare, but constructed of hardened Light. In its grip, Corridors failed me; if I couldn't wriggle free of the restraining Light, I could not enter a Corridor. </p><p>The Heart skulked closer, revealing its container to be a man, of honed strength and decent height. They proceeded to loom over me, teeth glinting ever so slightly in the low light. I swiped wildly at them, slashing with my claws while trying furiously to struggle free of their snare. The man had just chuckled at me, skillfully dodging my blows as if I were a slow-moving creature. It infuriated me, made me want to kill them not just for their Heart, but out of vengeance for having trapped me like this. </p><p>The man then caught my wrists, as if to tease my ire, and then held them both in one of his big hands. I kept thrashing and writhing, like a fish in a net, despite being thoroughly restrained. I even kicked them with my lone free leg, though they scarcely even acknowledged the blow. In their unfilled hand, the man cast up powerful Light magic to manifest a curious ring-shaped object. It shimmered yellow-white in its own glow, looking all angelic and pretty, simplistically aesthetic. It looked ugly to me; looked like Danger. The man wasted no time in unclipping an unseen mechanism at one end of the ring, causing it to open with a distinctive click. Holding me still as best they could, the man reached out with the one hand and snapped the ring around my neck. </p><p>At first it felt like smooth metal. But it was Light, and at a twitch of that man's finger, it snapped shut and suddenly began to burn. To make it even worse, little spikes shot into me from the inner surface of the collar. The man's hand made a subtle gesture and those spikes injected furious, searing Light into my very Darkness. I fell limp, held up solely by the man's grasp of my wrists. A human would have compared the experience to an electric shock, but I shook not because of spasming muscles, but due to the horrible pain itself. I let out a strangled whining sound, taut but flat in tone, high-pitched and sorrowful with an unnatural tinge of static. </p><p>Whilst I was incapacitated, the man dissolved the snare and picked me up in his arms. Holding me like a doll, he carried my twitching, whining form off. The pain, the invasion of Light did not cease during the entire journey. The trip to this man's destination was a blur to me, and I struggle to recall what paths we actually took, what landmarks I saw and where I had been through. </p><p>Eventually, we arrived at an unusual structure, very different from all of the buildings I had previously seen in my own travels. It was wide and cylindrical, with many small, glass-less windows. I was carried inside and taken down a stone hallway, through doors and turns I cannot recall the ordering of. It was after I was thrown into a cell and a thick stone door was shut over the entrance that my memory became clear. Once inside, the man must have deactivated the attacking Light, because the pain abruptly stopped. I regained my senses after a few minutes of twitching on the floor. </p><p>Still shaking somewhat, I sat up against one of the stone walls and observed my surroundings. Everything was made of a tan stone, the door(which had a single small window blockaded by metal bars) included. The room was empty, dark, and cool in temperature. Quickly, I turned my attention to the collar of Light around my neck. I could slip a claw or two under it, and could feel that its inner surface was smooth, like when it was first applied. The spikes seemed to only appear when the collar was used to attack me. Hands shaking with fear, I decided to leave the collar alone for the time, afraid of triggering its attack. </p><p>I then attempted to reach out to a nearby Corridor. I could successfully touch it, but still couldn't get in. The collar held me back, preventing me from moving into the Corridor. As I tried harder to pull myself away from the world and into the Corridor, the spikes returned and delivered a quick but extremely painful 'shock' of hostile Light. I was immediately upon the floor, twitching and whining. It stopped after a few seconds, but I still took a couple minutes to recover. </p><p>Unable to utilize Corridors and now thoroughly terrified of the Light collar, I simply laid down like an animal and closed my eyes, head rested on my forearms. I did not cry, but only because it was a foreign behavior that I was incapable of. I was scared; alone and without knowledge of where exactly I was and what would happen to me. All I had to go on was the Hunger, pulling me towards nearby Hearts that I couldn't reach. A human would have resigned to woeful sleep. The Heartless do not tire nor sleep; I remained alert, eyes closed but forever remaining conscious. </p><p>I do not know how long I spent in that room, but I do know that it was long enough for me to become extremely bored. It was out of this dull gloom that the sound of the door opening reached out to me. I snapped to attention, ready to bolt and flee. Not even looking at my surroundings I ran, and was swiftly stopped by a familiar, large hand. The man who'd caught me stood stalwartly in my way. Furious and afraid, I lashed out with my claws, slashing as high as I could reach(which was only up to this tall man's chest). I didn't notice the twitch of his hand, but I was very aware of the sudden reappearance of the collar's tiny spikes, and the surging, searing invasion of Light.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Just some rambles from Veri</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Some of these were written before I discovered and subscribed to the headcannon that Heartless make little chirping sounds (hence the references to them not making any noises).</p><p>This one is told from Veri's perspective. The point in time is vague? But I'm gonna shove it next to the other Sol/arena focused chapters since it kinda touches on that a little.<br/>As for who Veri's ramble is addressed to, I'm not certain? It could be Sol, it could be Xehanort and co., or it could just be humanity in general.</p><p>This one kind of touches on an early prototype of a defining lore feature which would later become integral to Veri, both as a Heartless and a wholly original critter; that being his lack of an 'immortal soul', and therefore the frightening impermanence of his existence/self.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>You thought we were emotionless, because we didn’t express how we felt in an obvious, familiar way. Sure, we clearly responded to stimuli- the presence of prey held our attention, and threats to our continued existence were avoided and retaliated against- but we never made any faces or sounds. Clearly, because we lacked body language(excluding the way our antennae moved as we tracked prey and threats in the environment), nor any sort of other obvious means of expressing our feelings- we must not have had any to begin with! Even you, who went on about there needing to be more Darkness to balance with the Light- you never empathized with us, treating us like machines to be expended for your goals. To insult us further, you had the audacity to name us ‘Heartless’ because of our perceived cold emotionlessness and lack of remorse. I’m sorry to break it to you, but most humans seldom feel bad for the animals which <em>they</em> slaughter for consumption!</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>I will note, we are ourselves rather guilty of the same crimes. Somebodies cannot pulse feeling and intent through the flow of their own Darkness, so to us, it seemed as though </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span> had no emotion. It was the most important way in which we instinctively knew emotions to be expressed, just like facial expressions and voices are for humans. Not to mention, in a natural setting, Somebodies are merely prey to us- and just like you we don’t normally give our food much philosophical thought. </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>What I think makes me different from you is that I made my chilling realization on my own. I realized, while I was trapped and tormented and all of my pleas were ignored- that the reason my screams went  unheard was becomes Somebodies literally could not hear them. The constrained Darkness in Hearts didn’t understand how to react to the flowing Darkness which Heartless used to express themselves. I was a discount lovecraftian nightmare, communicating on a similarly eldritch plane- which none of my human captors could hope to access. So, to break down the language barriers, I took it upon myself to learn how it was that humans communicated. Once I’d figured out the basics, I spent all of my free time mastering how to mimic those behaviors. </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Miraculously, once I’d gotten good at faking looks of terror, aggression, and contentment, foes started hesitating to strike me, if only a little. As soon as I completed the arduous task of learning to use careful application of Aero magic to make sounds, I was at a huge turning point. Nobody felt a drop of remorse in striking me before I got good at acting, but as soon as I mastered screaming and whimpering, even Sol, the cruelest, was given pause. Suddenly he wasn’t as comfortable with shocking me into compliance now that I made my pain known, crying out while I was being hurt and making soft noises of fear whilst I limped for the nearest corner. </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>When I learned to talk, even just a handful of words- I became uncanny, a beast which begged for mercy. Sol started sending me to fight in the arena less frequently, because my desperate pleas for attackers to stop was creeping the audience out. When I escaped, I was ultimately saved by this new and unnerving ability. </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>When my fight with the Keyblader sent to kill me was shown on the news, my voice was readily audible- repeating ‘stop’, ‘no’, and ‘don’t’ while wearing a frightened expression. One particularly noble fellow took note of the fact that even though I seriously injured that Keyblader before I fled, the way that I fought wasn’t all that aggressive. I was very avoidant, trying to get away and only retaliating when I was cornered. Granted, when I did retaliate, I did so with the terrifying skill and dps of, well, a gladiator; but I was still evidently more afraid than hostile. When I had incapacitated the Keyblader, I could have finished them off and had my first good meal in a long time- but instead I fled, because I was more concerned with my own dire wounds.</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The noble fellow who’d observed and taken note of these details was my now dear friend Leo. He was the sort of person who caught spiders in cups to release outside, unlike the majority of humans who would simply kill any spiders found in their homes. Upon observing the unusually frightened and defensive behavior of the Heartless on the screen, he formed a hypothesis. Leo had the suspicion that this Heartless was indeed much more afraid than it was hostile, and decided that he would investigate. </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Leo’s hypothesis was proven correct; when he approached me, I backed away, growling but never lunging at him like a Heartless normally would. As soon as he tentatively cast Cure, I became hesitantly placid. I was still very suspicious of his motives- Sol would heal me after battle, despite being the reason I had to fight in the first place- but I couldn’t help but be grateful anyways. After spending several minutes observing one another for signs of hostility, Leo(who I will note is rather accustomed to monsters) decided he’d try and touch me. I growled at him and flinched away, but when Leo pulled his hand back and didn’t try to grab me, I allowed him to very lightly touch my shoulder. </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Our truce was very fragile and uneasy, but Leo was the first gentle, kind human I’d ever met. He had an open mind, willing to consider that a creature literally known as a Heartless might actually have feelings, like fear and gratitude. Yes, Leo sometimes did have to reprimand me with violence in those early months- he couldn’t exactly let me devour Hearts- but he remained gentle with me in all other situations. I was never threatened or hurt for anything less than trying to kill someone. Yes, until I proved myself trustworthy unsupervised I was chained to a wall at night- but that was my only restraint. During the day, I was even largely free to wander, so long as I remained within eye and earshot. </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Leo was everything you thought you were. While you considered the nature of Darkness solely from a human perspective, even after becoming a Heartless- Leo considered what it must mean from a Heartless’s point of view. Yes, Darkness is dangerous for Sombodies- but to me, it’s the very stuff I’m made of. True, Darkness can be used to harm us, but it typically isn’t; humans can drown in water, but they also need to drink it. While humans had to be cautious around the stuff, Leo understood that I desperately needed it. I was starving, and Leo had the inhuman equability to consider finding a way to feed me, something Sol never bothered with. With a lot of difficulty, he secured permission to enter the Realm of Darkness itself to gather little vials of Darkness that I could sate my hunger with. Leo didn’t demand my loyalty; <em>he won it.</em> </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Leo even figured out what you never did- when we devour Hearts, it’s more than a simple act of predation. The sentience, the aliveness of a Heartless isn’t derived from a Heart or a Soul, because we don’t have any. That much is obvious; what isn’t is exactly how we manage to be alive despite that lack of vital hardware. What you did realize was that we’re derived from an absurdly complex pattern in our very Darkness. There are moving, metaphysical components to it which literally occupy millions in the same space, working like a mother board to carry out the functions of both a Heart and a Soul. The connection you didn’t make was why a Heart would be so desirable considering that lower purebloods can spontaneously generate from high enough concentrations of ambient Darkness. The Darkness in a Heart is being used to encode information about the Somebody it composes; that information serves as a very convenient base pattern. Rather than start from scratch, which is actually rather difficult- we can parasitize a Heart to create offspring more efficiently. Like seeding sugar water with a small sugar crystal fragment to speed up the production of rock candy, the pattern in a Heart’s Darkness acts as a seed for a more complex Heartless mind. Not a lot is carried over- a lot of what makes a Sombody relies on cross communication between their Darkness and their Light(notably, memories), but none of it is destroyed, either. The parts which we are successful in translating into our code form the basis for the offspring’s personality and intelligence(a reason why intelligent beings like humans are our preferred prey- smarter Heartless survive longer and hunt more effectively), and anything we can’t use simply sticks around, like unused assets in a video game. Hence why even though a Heartless almost never retains memories from its Somebody, when it is killed and its Somebody is reformed- that Somebody is able to simply plug things back together and access the memories their Heartless couldn’t decipher. </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>I know that this isn’t how it works, but sometimes I do ponder- what if Somebodies were the parasitoids? From the perspective of a Heartless, a complete Heart, especially reformed after the destruction of its Heartless- resembles an eldritch abomination of a zombie. There’s Darkness in there, but it isn’t alive in the way a Heartless is. Indeed, to recreate a Somebody who has lost their Heart to Darkness, you must kill their Heartless- whose Darkness, the sole component of their entire existence, is then used to reconstruct that Heart. Thinking about it this way lends notable credence to our instinctive fear of the Keyblade- we don’t want to die, especially considering that the pattern which keeps us alive must be dismantled, presumably permanently, to recreate the Heart which we came from. Somebodies have the luxury of durable, persistent hardware and software. A Heartless is little more than an impermanent ripple in a pond; once the water becomes still, it’s near impossible to recreate the same exact ripple.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Euthanasia</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Sol finally decides it's time to put Veri down. Veri takes advantage of his near-death experience to escape.</p><p>I'll be real honest, a lot has changed since I wrote this one? It's quite old, and even though I won't be working on this Heartless AU of Veri anymore, the 'cannon' version of his escape would probably go a little differently- primarily since in 'cannon', Veri is still wearing the Light Collar when he escapes. The collar still being on him kind of became an important detail, since the restraining function it provided would be important when Leo had just recently 'adopted' Veri and was still training him to you know. Not Eat People :V</p><p>I still kind of like this outdated iteration on its artistic merit, though, so here it is I suppose :V</p><p>(Worth noting is that I use a little bit the <a href="https://enderverse.fandom.com/wiki/Hierarchy_of_Foreignness">'Hierarchy of Foreignness'</a> from the Enderverse series? I used to find it to be quite the handy shorthand to describe these sorts of concepts.)</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Sol sat solemnly in his chambers. The glow of his lamp cast a somber, pensive atmosphere. Unfinished papers lay on his desk, growing more disheveled by the minute as he rested his elbows upon them; propping up his arms so he could place his face in his hands. Veri’s behavior in the ring had been getting to Sol; that afternoon had been the final nail in the coffin. He was done trying to control him; he’d gotten too smart, far smarter than Sol had ever anticipated a Heartless could be. </p><p>Breathing heavily, mind whirring wild with dire thoughts, Sol settled upon his decision. He’d be putting Veri down not on the morrow, but today. Right now. He couldn’t take another round of tense matches with the Heartless; his uncontainable instincts, and now his incessant verbal demands, sounding all too human. </p><p>With a weighted sigh, Sol arose from his seat and made his way to the door. Opening and shutting it quietly so as not to wake his resident gladiators, he crept into the hallway. Making his way down the corridor, and down the stairs, and through yet more familiar corridors, Sol contemplated what he’d say when he got there.</p><p>Veri had been eagerly straddling the border between varelse and raman; when Sol went to kill him, Veri would not simply squeal and perish. He would no doubt beg for mercy, bringing up previous good behavior and displays of sapience as reasonings for Sol to spare him. </p><p>To be honest with himself, Sol had been dreading this from the moment Veri first spoke to him. More so yet when the Heartless got ahold of a dual-language dictionary, and chose a name for himself. Sol would have felt not a drop of remorse killing Veri when he first met him; when he was just a Heartless, a mindless creature- djur. Even when Veri had established his intelligence, but not yet learned to communicate meaningfully  with humans- as a varselse; Sol wouldn’t have been afraid to slay him. But now that he had a voice, a name, a face that could contort into imitation human expressions, Sol found himself wrestling with his own instincts. They wouldn’t stop whispering into his ear that Veri was a person now, a raman; seeding Sol’s stomach with little worms of empathy for him. </p><p>Sol stumbled slightly as he jolted out of thought and back into awareness. He was at the door to Veri’s cell now, his own hand already holding out the key to the lock. With a deep and solemn exhale, Sol let his eyelids droop and inserted the key, giving it a slow twist in the lock. He was really doing this now; turning back wasn’t an option. Breathing back in just as deeply, he gently pushed the door open, allowing the faint light of torches on the wall to cast his shadow softly upon the floor of the cell. </p><p>Piercing yellow eyes rose up to gaze at him. Sol didn’t need to strain his own eyes to puncture the remaining darkness and take in the rest of Veri’s face to know his expression. He was being stared at balefully, Veri no doubt looking through Sol’s body and into his Heart, his inhuman eyes made even more perverse.  Sol did not need to tell Veri what he was here to do. </p><p>Sol once again sighed for what must have been the fifteenth time that day. His prisoner continued to give him an unwavering death-glare, not yet speaking like Sol had expected him to, but delivering venom nonetheless. Steeling his soul, Sol took it upon himself to be the first to talk. </p><p>“Intelligent Fighter..” Sol did not dare address Veri by his chosen name; it would humanize him too much, and he wouldn’t be able to go through with his execution. “You’ve gotten to be too much of a feisty creature for even me to contain. No amount of physical restraints or repeated conditioning seems like it will be sufficient to control you anymore.”</p><p>Veri moved his stare to pierce Sol’s eyes instead of his heart, forcing the mighty munerarius to look away.</p><p>Sol yet again strengthened his resolve with a brief round of deep breaths. “A wild beast I could set free in the jungles whence it came. You are not a wild beast; you are a Heartless, and if I let you free you would not be content to hunt deer and roar in the forest. You would devour countless Hearts, spawning yet more of your kind until they consumed the very World itself, and then moving on yet still.”</p><p>Veri chose to growl quietly instead of responding verbally. He did this when a mage forced him into a corner and he wanted to scare them away. Or perhaps, he wanted to encourage the idea that he was a wild beast?</p><p>Sol chose to pay him no notice. “Therefore, if I can no longer keep you, I am with no other choice but to put you down.” A pause. “I knew on the day that I caught you that I would be killing you one day. I knew I could not sleep if I kept you forever, allowing the Heart of whatever poor soul was used to create you to remain trapped in Darkness. Now whoever that person used to be will be set free.”</p><p>With that Sol prepared his most potent spell and closed in on Veri.<br/><br/></p><hr/><p> </p><p>Veri saw it the moment Sol moved deep enough into his awareness to be given attention. His master had finally come to terms with his unusual tenacity, and as such decided upon how to deal with that problem. </p><p>As Sol explained himself, still harboring human remorse despite all his years as both a combatant and owner of gladiator rings, Veri solemnly acknowledged the truth in what was being said. Veri, too, had always been aware that eventually, Sol would be unable to keep him anymore- and on that someday, he would kill him. That day had always seemed a bit far away, though the distance seemed to shrink every time Veri felt the Light Collar’s searing sting. </p><p>The contrasting between himself and a wild beast felt ironic, if he understood the concept correctly; Veri had been treated just like one. More important in the moment was the the suggestion that a real wild beast would have been spared, however. Partly in a knowingly futile attempt at likening himself to such a creature which could be set free, and partly to express his mounting anxiety, Veri growled low and quiet. It seemed only to summon mild confusion in Sol, however. </p><p>Finally steeling his resolve and setting upon what he felt must be done, Sol moved in upon Veri. The low lighting of the torches hung upon the posterior wall cast Sol’s front in darkness while his edges were faintly lit. Veri could still see his face, however, his vision well equipped to see in even the total absence of light. Regardless, the low lighting did not last long. </p><p>Sol’s fists ignited with golden flames of deadly Light. Instinctively sensing the danger, Veri found himself backing up- he had to consciously stop himself before he became cornered upon the back wall. Still shaken inside, Veri forced himself to remain steeled, although that task grew more difficult as he felt the Light Collar start resonate with the Light on Sol’s fists. </p><p>The intensity of that resonance only grew, and rapidly so; soon it was tangibly burning Veri’s ‘skin’. Hurriedly, he forced himself to cough up a few strangled words, desperately staring into Sol’s eyes. “Don’t!” Quickly, that wasn’t enough- “I’m too human to kill!” </p><p>... A shaking of Sol’s head. “You are not human. You are Darkness, which consumes that which makes a real human who they are. Your words are an imitation, like cheap plastic. I will not fall for such deception.” Seemingly having been talking more to himself than to the panicked Heartless, Sol closed in further. The flames upon his fists rose into small infernos, and with a swing of them, the golden fire shot out. </p><p>Forming chain-like threads, the yellow flames connected with the Light collar, moving to strike Veri despite his attempt at dodging. Once linked, the flame-threads turned taught, and he was violently pulled forwards. Veri could steady himself in an instant, and indeed the position of his feet upon the floor indicated such, but the movements of the fire-chains were abrupt. Quicker than he could fully recover from, Veri was flung into the air. </p><p>As he was sent crashing back down, the  fire-chains were pulled at an angle, and Light Collar suddenly became choking. Roaring golden infernos traveled along their lengths from Sol’s hands, and into the Collar. Before he could scream, familiar gilded daggers dug into Veri’s neck- but this time the pain was different; it was not a disciplinary strike, but a blow intended to destroy. To kill. </p><p>Veri could hardly think; he was suddenly consumed by instincts, all of them screaming at him, <strong>‘DANGER'!</strong> Against the unbearable agony of killing Light invading his form, Veri desperately squirmed as much as he could manage. He was just a Soldier, a common strain, just barely more durable than a Shadow- he had seconds to live under this concentrated assault. In those seconds, he could scarcely think to do anything but what his deepest instincts advised. Stuggle, fight, get away, <em>DANGER</em>.</p><p>Despite more than a year of conditioning ordinarily informing him that the effort was futile, in his panic Veri reached out to a Corridor. His claws glided through it, unable to find a grasp- still restrained by Light. Light which was currently consuming him, incinerating his Darkness from within outwards. Thoughts thick and heavy, too muddled to maintain clear awareness, Veri continued to paw at the Corridor. </p><p>The Light was devouring him; Veri could feel it pulling him apart, burning and breaking up the Darkness that made up his body. Deathly black smoke filled the room, gaseous Darkness that made it hard for Sol to see what he was doing, even with the intense glow of the Light. Instinctively Veri tried to pull it back, knit himself back together, but the lost Darkness had become foreign; his wounds were temporarily cauterized by the Light, unable to heal. The horror only barely managed to push its way through the thick tangle of instincts and into Veri’s awareness. </p><p>Still desperate and unable to maintain clear self awareness, Veri still yet struggled to grasp one of the many invisible Corridors of Darkness around him. It was when he was nearly gone, mere seconds too close to oblivion, that Veri touched one of them for the first time in a over a year. </p><p>There was too little left for the Light Collar to firmly grasp. Its prisoner was millimetres from total destruction. A tiny smudge of Darkness, dilute, now- and a monstrously corrupted Heart somehow still vaguely tied to it. Veri couldn’t even recognize himself anymore, but the Corridor did, and he grasped it with all the strength of his howling instincts. But he couldn’t remember how to use it- once he was in, Veri was stumbling out, if something reminiscent of a Possessor could even stumble. </p><p>Sol cleared the black smoke with a blast of shining Light. Eyes smoldering, he ran his gaze along every surface and seam of the room. Only Veri’s clothing-his armor- remained. Sighing deeply but nodding in affirmation of his success, Sol bent down and picked up Veri’s modified helm. Looking into its dark opening, Sol could almost see a pair of baleful yellow eyes. But he shook his head; Veri- Intelligent Fighter- had been a mistake. The Heartless were not a thing which could be conditioned, even for use in bloodsports. </p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Veri-what was left of him-tumbled out of the Corridor into a barren alley with what must have been an insidious amount of luck. With the Light gone, and the pain receding, some faint semblance of conscious thought returned to him. Eyes focusing, and with some struggle, he took note of what damage he had sustained. <em>...Near complete obliteration.</em> He was at the moment composed of a fraction of the Darkness he’d been born with- if he could recall that quantity correctly. </p><p>Although the Light could bar him from healing in the moment, giving it just enough time to destroy him completely- in its absence, a Heartless could slowly regain normalcy. Only Keyblade wrought wounds would never heal- the Keyblade attacked not by burning, but by locking and unlocking on the conceptual level. </p><p>While Light could kill a Heartless in the way mundane light erased shadows when cast upon them, the effects of Keyblade blows did not disappear when the weapon was removed. The Keyblade unlocked the Heart, either as trapped within Emblems or as mere traces in Purebloods; giving it the capability to forcefully free itself from the Heartless. But it also locked the Darkness, sealing if off and allowing it be permanently banished from existence. Or perhaps unlocking it, so that it could not maintain its concentrations and solidity as a Heartless? </p><p>He couldn’t hold on to much sturdy consciousness, but Veri was vaguely aware of some terrible amount of fright. His movements somehow shaky, he set about searching for any means by which to heal himself. He was faintly aware of many Hearts in the city around him, but found himself focusing on easier pickings that wouldn’t put up a fight- faint traces of Darkness native to the World itself, and not anything else in particular. They were always ‘visible’ to a Heartless, but the concentrations were so low as to be compared to cosmic background radiation. Only when he focused upon them were they noticeable. </p><p>It would take a long time, but eventually Veri would recover enough to hunt- just barely, he just needed to be able to walk and grasp to do it- but hunt nonetheless. Once he reached that point, he would heal much more rapidly, building back up the quantities of Darkness which used to compose his body. </p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Months later, Sol sat once again in his office, filling out forms and grading scores- several new gladiators had joined his ring since he’d killed Veri, and their training seemed to be going well. He’d been afraid that the loss of the Heartless would distress him, but it surprisingly didn’t; although Intelligent Fighter, Veri, the Heartless- was gone, Sol knew that whoever his Heart used to be must have been restored to their proper selves. Somewhere out there, he was a human again, with whatever his real name and face had been. That knowledge brought him peace. </p><p>So much so that he’d felt comfortable enough to put Veri’s old helm on a special shelf upon his office wall. He somewhat hoped that if he ever met Veri’s human self, he would show him the helm and tell him stories about who his Heartless had been. Perhaps give the helm ‘back’, even. For now, it sat on its shelf quietly, as a reminder both never to do that again, but also of Veri’s rare pleasant memories. </p><p>Contently, Sol continued going about his paperwork- not paying particular mind to his environment, because the office wasn’t an arena and the task at hand demanded his attention. In retrospect, he would have been much more keen of the shelf on the wall. </p><p>A shadow cast by the warm lighting of wall torches and Sol’s desk lamp twitched. Just out of notice, it peeled away from the wall and slunk towards the shelf. Its inkly form was just solid enough to grasp the helm sitting placidly atop said shelf. With some effort, the shadow lifted the armor from its resting place and held it against its chest. The sharper of its edges jabbed slightly into the shadow, although it wasn’t hurt; merely lacking in density. </p><p>Although he’d been thoroughly focused on his paperwork, Sol caught the largest movements in his peripheral vision- and whirled around to observe their source. His eyes widened in shock as they settled upon the cause of the disturbance. “Ver-Veri?!!” </p><p>A semi-transparent amalgamation of shadowy Darkness looked back at Sol. Its wide yellow eyes held in them a vague resemblance to the Heartless Sol had once known. “How are you still here?! You are dead!” Sol shouted at what he was growing certain must have been some sort of apparition. It recoiled at his raised voice, flinching and clutching the helm tightly enough that it dug halfway into its torso. Sol slammed his powerful hands upon his temples. “Can Heartless even have ghosts?!”</p><p>Shivering, at least that’s what Sol thought it seemed to be doing, the shadow scuttled backwards. Its eyes seemed to flicker around, before it leaned back into one of the shadows on the wall- and slipped through it. Horrified, Sol realized that it had gone into a Corridor of Darkness- ultimately meaning that the ‘Veri ghost’ was in fact a genuine Heartless. </p><p>Rushing to his office phone, Sol dialed a number he thought he would never have to, as a Light mage- Keyblader 911. If Veri had somehow survived, than Sol could no longer trust himself to kill him. Somewhat begrudgingly, he sought out a Keyblader to offer their extermination efforts. </p><p>One of them answered almost immediately, to Sol’s great relief. To his dismay, the warrior on the phone sounded almost painfully young- but he set aside his doubts in favor of accepting the much needed help. The Keyblader that responded to his call accepted his mission without hesitation, stating that he would start searching the city- which Sol felt reasonably certain Veri would still hang around, since he seemed to be gathering his old armor-right away.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. A Peculiar Urge (vore chapter oops)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>This drabble is most likely non-cannon? </p><p>But, it was kind of inevitable that I would write this sort of garbage with Veri eventually :V<br/>That's, just what happens when you let a vorarephile make monster characters, it seems ;D;</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Hunting was stressful.. the conflict, the struggle that subduing prey involved- it was still combat and Veri couldn’t steady his nerves. However, fasting wasn’t much better; the Hunger just built up, until he couldn’t take it anymore and it dominated his thoughts. Now that he had his prey, had a Heart in his claws- Veri was still held back. He still had the Light Collar fastened tightly around his neck. He knew that it couldn’t strike him if Sol could not see him and know what he was doing, but it still made him anxious. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Anxiety be damned, he was so hungry- </span>
  <em>
    <span>I can’t wait anymore!</span>
  </em>
  <span> Hands shaking, Veri’s grip tightened; but shattering the Heart, extracting the Darkness and spawning a new Heartless, it- it wasn’t enough! Hastily, shakily, somewhat uncertainly- Veri shoved the Heart into his mouth. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was no taste, that just wasn’t a sense that he had; but there was still an urge, a new and sudden desire to do something unusual. Unfettered through his desperate hunger, Veri obeyed- and attempted to swallow the Heart. Only attempted, though- he soon found that the Light Collar restrained him from more than using Corridors. It was so tight on his neck- he, he couldn’t fit the Heart down his throat! It got stuck, and he almost coughed it up. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>But he was getting frenzied now- he wouldn’t give up and remain </span>
  <em>
    <span>hungry</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Veri tilted his head back, straightened out his throat- and tried to swallow again. It hurt a little, was pushing his luck- but it worked. The Heart just barely fit past the Light Collar. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He could feel it slide down, much more smoothly once it got past the collar. It was a new sensation, one Veri had never felt before. But it was… oddly pleasant. He took a deep breath, an acquired behavior that helped to steady his nerves. The Heart settled somewhere in the bottom of his chest, and- and that was it. Nothing else happened. All Veri felt was a subtle weight in approximately the place where a human stomach was. Or was it the heart- the meat one?</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Could you NOT stab my pet, please?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Hi, I'm Inc, and I'm hurt/comfort trash :V</p><p>Idk who the keyblader is? They're just sort of generic I suppose. I suppose that just sort of happens when you write drabbles to pass the time :V</p><p>Anyway this one seems like a good drabble to start with for introducing Leo.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The keyblade slid all too easily through his flesh. As though he were made of soft plasticine, Veri was impaled. The force of the blow carried him down, the swing of the blade still had energy to spend- and he was upon the ground. <br/><br/>An acrid odor filled the nearby air as motor oil-formaldehyde scented smoke billowed out from the wound. The soft, near-liquid internal Darkness of Veri’s body leaked out with it, slowly oozing onto the floor. The tip of the keyblade, poking out his belly- was stained dark with it. <br/><br/>The sudden back-stabbing attack was surprisingly successful. Veri had been temporarily calmed, and as such had hesitantly allowed himself to be approached from behind. His Heart-detecting sense had alerted him to the proximity- but human emotion was alien to him, and he couldn’t perceive the intent. Unable to see behind his own head, the blow came without warning, and without his guard, Veri was made incredibly vulnerable. <br/><br/>With some great effort, and a heart-wrenching whimpering sound, Veri squirmed against the sturdy metal holding him down. Shaking violently, head held low and limp, he struggled to push himself off the ground. Seeing his still-lively movement, the keyblader tugged on their blade. Veri was pulled up with it, yelping as the blade’s end acted like a hook inside his torso. To overcome this issue, the wielder placed one booted foot upon Veri’s back, and stomped down. Crushing the Heartless upon the ground, the wielder was able to wrench their weapon from his body. <br/><br/>Thudding footsteps sounded from down the hall. Someone was coming in quite the hurry. <br/><br/>Hastily, the keyblader thrust their blade back down- quashing Veri’s attempt to get up and squirm away. He made that horrible sound again, yipping and whining like a dog. The relative clarity of those cries quickly devolved into something even more inhuman and unnatural, however. A mechanical sound, vaguely reminiscent of ragged breathing, became the dominant noise as the keyblade was again pulled out and raised into striking position. <br/><br/>The footfalls rounded a corner, appearing with mounting intensity as they grew near. Someone was running with thunderous fury. <br/><br/>The keyblader raised their weapon, preparing for a fourth strike. Veri, the Heartless, struggled limply bellow their boot. Black smoke partially obscured him from view. <br/><br/>Before the blow could be dealt, Leo burst into the doorway. Without a moment’s hesitation, just seconds after being seen, no time left to explain- he was launching a Firaga into the keyblader’s face. Unprepared to dodge, the brutish heat and force of the spell doled out quite a bit of knockback. With a shout, the wielder was stumbling back a few steps, and then fumbling for a potion to mend their burnt skin. <br/><br/>The pressure on his back lifted, Veri laid still for a moment- and then resumed his struggling with renewed vigor. With much unsteadiness, he managed to lift himself up somewhat, and to squirm a small distance forward. <br/><br/>Another firaga was launched as Leo ran to  Veri. Face contorted and teeth grit with fear and anger, he knelt down and retrieved a hi-potion from his bag. Veri continued to shamble vainly upon the ground, not seeming to notice any change in his environment. Soft black fluid and acrid smoke gushed from his wounds with each little movement. Leo felt sick just watching it. <br/><br/>Gingerly holding his friend in place with one hand, Leo used the other to pour hi-potion directly into Veri’s wounds. His squirming slowly dissolved into meek shivering as the magical fluid mended his injured body. Gaping holes sealed in mere seconds, and the dark smoke and ‘blood’ was either pulled back in, or made to fade away. <br/><br/>Veri slowly shifted into a sitting position, and shakily turned his head to look at Leo. His helmet was somewhat askew, and he couldn’t help but clutch his formerly punctured belly- but his eyes were wide open. Leo gazed back at him with a look of intense relief. <br/><br/>Behind them, the aggressing keyblader recovered from the savage burns inflicted by Leo’s potent fire spells. If potions hadn’t been a thing that people commonly carried- they might have needed serious medical attention. Shooting the mage a glare, they took a few steps forward. <br/><br/>“What. The. Hell?!” Angry shouts. What is wrong with this guy?! <br/><br/>Leo turned his head to look up at them with his own furious stare. “Same to you!” He rose to his feet, leaving Veri to gaze fearfully after him from his position on the floor. “I told you Veri was friendly! You nodded and told me ‘OK’. I leave to see if we have any decent cookies, and you try to kill him?!!” <br/><br/>The keyblader looked at Leo with an uncomfortable expression. Making wild gestures with their hands, they explained their part. “There’s got to be something wrong in your head! Crazy- manipulated by that dark creature, and putting the entire freaking world in danger by allowing it to live!” <br/><br/>Leo scrunched his face up, then retrieved something from his wallet. It was a pair of ID cards, one with his own face, the other with Veri’s. “Veri has been legally tested and confirmed to be a non-threat! I have a federal permit!” Leo promptly shoved the cards into the wielder’s face with not inconsiderable force. <br/><br/>“Legally, Veri is simultaneously my adoptive child and my exotic pet. If he hurts anyone, it’s my responsibility, and I’d face severe legal charges- and if he killed anyone, I’d be required by law to have him euthanized.” The keyblader examined Leo’s cards while they listened to his spiel. They weren’t familiar with the laws regarding exotic pets, but.. these actually seemed fairly legit. A feature of Veri’s card caught their eye- there was an additional label, ‘therapy animal’. <br/><br/>“Both local and federal law recognizes that Veri has been trained- he passed rigorous tests to confirm his peaceful behavior! People in our town even know him semi-personally, and they generally agree that Veri can be trusted. I’m not crazy, Veri is-“ Leo’s rapid-fire shouting was interrupted by a shooshing gesture made directly upon his face, and a question. <br/><br/>“That’s very nice and all, also I’d like to hear that confirmed by a cop- but I want to know what’s up with this?” The keyblader was holding up Veri’s card and pointing to the ‘therapy animal’ label. <br/><br/>Leo nodded. “I registered Veri as a therapy animal so that he can go with me into stores and other public spaces.” He stooped down and picked up Veri by the arms, like he was a cat. “Although really, it’s usually the other way around- with me helping Veri to overcome his anxiety and PTSD.” Leo proceeded to hug ‘Veri’ to his chest, and the Heartless actually nodded. <br/><br/>He then chimed in with own two cents, speaking in that soft, broken voice of his. “Leo is protector; I am small friend.” His eyes slunk down to the Keyblade, still held in hand and seemingly poised. “Please no weapons. I do not kill; please do not kill me.”  </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Feud</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>In this drabble, Veri steals a Heart behind Leo’s back, and when Leo finds out… he’s pissed.</p><p>Takes place early on in Veri's relationship with Leo, most likely just a some number of months after Veri was 'adopted'.</p><p>(this is also the chapter where Veri commits cannibalism? Well, he does also do so in an unwritten (well, unwritten except for a bullet point summary) event while he's still trapped in the gladiator arena, but since I'm not posting the rough notes I have on that this will be the primary instance you'll be seeing.)</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Leo slammed his palms onto Veri’s chest and shoved him away. “I never want to see you again!” Leo was fuming, he was yelling and his voice was burning with rage. “You’re going to leave, and I’m going to forget that I was ever involved in any of your Heartless bullshit!” Veri stumbled and almost fell down. He looked up at his former friend with forlorn eyes- or at least, the most forlorn eyes that he could muster. Seeing his mockery of human expression only made Leo angrier, and he nearly tackled Veri- pushing him down onto his back with all the might in his hands. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Veri just stared up at him, confused. “Go!” Leo kicked him in the belly, and when that turned out to be ineffective, stomped. Veri instinctively recoiled, despite being unharmed. Shaking with frustration, Leo flicked his wrists- magical flames erupted around them, casting an angry orange glow. With a howl, he slammed his fists into Veri- punching him into the ground and setting him on fire.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A strange black smoke rose into the air and Veri broke down into inhuman screaming, making sounds that resembled screeching tires wailing over a broken radio. He scrambled backwards, flailing onto his feet and trying to get away. As soon as he was standing, Leo threw him another flying punch, knocking him back several feet and onto his back again. Chest heaving, Leo’s heavy breathing drew in the smoke, and he exhaled it like a snorting bull.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Suddenly, a lesson Leo had taught him when they were still friends- about how to put out a fire that got on his body should he ever be accidentally set alight- came to Veri. He stopped flailing and rolled, quenching most of the flames. Afterwards he scooted back several feet and then stood up again, hesitantly meeting Leo’s searing gaze. “L͜, ̷L͏̸͞-̴Lee͜o͏o̡̕͠o̶ ̛o͢h̷̨,͜͜” Veri struggled to form coherent sounds. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The flames climbing up his arms, Leo advanced- Veri nervously backing away from him. “I said leave! Go away and never come within a kilometre of me ever again!” With that he cast an inferno to match his rage- </span>
  <em>
    <span>Firaga</span>
  </em>
  <span>- at Veri. Shrieking with terror, Veri bolted, tumbling into a dodge roll and managing to only get hit with half the flames. Even so, the burns were still terrible; soot stained his helmet as black as the smoke that now formed a cloud around his body. Wailing with agony, he retreated- fleeing from Leo and running down the street.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The fires left Leo very slowly, taking several minutes of deep breathing and glaring seethingly into the distance to fade away. He still wasn’t sure of what he did, but it was done. Leo was still furious, Veri had taken a Heart in secret- and then tried to hide what he’d done from him! If he hadn’t been so weak of will, Leo would have killed him- but their previous friendship prevented him from doing so. Even now, Leo struggled to separate this </span>
  <em>
    <span>monster</span>
  </em>
  <span> from the scared and confused creature he had first met Veri as. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>With a great sigh and lofty plumes of smoke residing where fire had once climbed, Leo sat down on the steps outside his house. He prayed that this did not turn out to be a mistake, that Veri didn’t go wild and devour dozens of Hearts now that he was on his own.</span>
</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>It had been a month since Leo had sent Veri away. The first week had been horrible, he couldn’t shake the chilling realization that Veri would definitely go on a hunting spree. He should have never let him go alive! But it was too late, and Leo had to move on with his life. Slowly but surely, he did, and began to resume normalcy. It felt both nostalgic and strangely lonely to return to the way he lived before he’d decided to shelter a Heart-eating abomination. He tried not to think about it too much.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>This lasted only until he received a dire report from the next town over- two Heartless had been spotted, and with no keybladers in the immediate area, Leo was called in to do the slaying. The car ride over to the place where the Heartless had last been seen felt suffocating with anxiety. Veri still wore the Light Collar; it was possible that he had never gone much further than literally a kilometre away.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Parking his car and stepping out, Leo strode down the block in search of townsfolk to question. With Heartless on the loose, no-one was out and about; so Leo headed into a nearby cafe. The doorbell jingled over his head as he walked in, alerting the cashier to his presence</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hello! Welcome to Bean Comet Cafe, how may I help you?” the saleslady greeted Leo with practiced cheer.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He nodded. “There were Heartless recently reported in this area, and I was called in to exterminate them-” Leo’s face contorted slightly as he forced himself not to think about Veri. “Have you seen any little shadowey monsters, with piercing yellow eyes?” the saleslady shook her head. “Sorry, I haven’t seen anything like that. I’ll be sure to keep my eyes open, though. In the meantime, would you like to order a coffee?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Leo nodded and took out his wallet. “Sure. I’ll get an iced latte with hazelnut flavoring.” While he paid and the barista prepared his drink, one of the patrons stood up from the back of the store and walked over.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Did you say you were looking for little shadow beasties with yellow eyes?” Leo whipped around to face the person speaking to him; a middle-aged man in a coat with dark hair. “Yes! Where did you see them?!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The man blinked, having expected to first be asked for confirmation on what he’d seen, rather than being immediately questioned about where the beasties were. “Y-yeah, I saw some a little while ago, creeping around in an alley on Central street. I wasn’t sure what they were.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Leo snatched the man’s hand and shook it vigorously, startling him. “Holy shit, thank you! I thought I was going to spend forever tracking them down.” He looked up and addressed the whole cafe. “I should have the situation under control, but if any of you see any little shadowey monsters with yellow eyes, call the police immediately, they’re very dangerous!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The barista handed him his coffee, Leo said goodbye to the people in the cafe, and he dashed out into the street.</span>
</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>A scuffling sound caught Leo’s attention, and he peered down the alleyway opposite to the one he’d previously been investigating. Immediately, he froze. This was not what he had expected to see.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Two Soldiers were fighting in the back of that dark space, their outlines blurring together in the shadows. One of them was making a familiar low growl.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>After a minute or so, the growling one managed to wrestle the other to the ground. The fight stilled as the losing Heartless was pinned in place, and Leo finally got a good look at it. It was unusually fuzzy and its helmet, still stained black, had a bladed structure in place of the usual curled metal plume.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Leo was about to say something, or to prepare a spell- he had even set down his coffee- when the dominating Heartless -</span>
  <em>
    <span>Veri</span>
  </em>
  <span>- plunged one of its hands into the other’s chest. Though it had been silent until this point, the subdued Heartless suddenly made a loud, piercing sound- and started struggling violently.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Veri tried to pull his arm out, tugging on something. With a snapping motion and a horrible wail coming from the Heartless pinned beneath him, he finally managed to succeed in pulling out his hand. In its grip was a shimmering, almost crystalline pink object.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The other Heartless was really screaming now, making horrible, </span>
  <em>
    <span>horrible</span>
  </em>
  <span> noises. Its voice sounded like Veri’s did when he had been hurt by Firaga, but somehow even more feral and artificial. It was squirming under his grip, thrashing and flailing its clawed hands at him and kicking at his belly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Veri pried his eyes away from the Heart to look down at the Heartless panicking beneath him. There was no expression in his gaze, not even coldness. His shoulder twitched in response to claws being hooked into his skin. Very slowly and carefully, Veri placed he Heart between his teeth. Leo started, about to intervene-</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Veri did not put the Heart in his mouth to eat it; he did it to free up his hand- so that he could rip into the other Heartless. Digging in his own claws, he tore it apart- cutting into its chest and slicing through its throat. The other Heartless kept shrieking, the sound uninterrupted even as one of its arms was violently wrenched off. Its eyes almost seemed to roll back in its head as it became limp, and acrid black smoke flooded the small alley space.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Abruptly, there was silence. The smoke cleared, fading away- revealing Veri. Alone, gently removing the Heart from his jaws and staring it uncertainly. Then he flinched, jerking his head back- and whirled around to look at where Leo was standing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Leo looked back at Veri with genuine fear. Regardless of all the monsters and traps and dangers he’d become accustomed to facing, he was shaking- he was mortified. After a full minute of staring at each other and nothing happening, Leo took it upon himself to speak up. He coughed, clearing his voice- “Is that.. was that the one? ..Is that the Heart that you stole?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Veri nodded jerkily. He made a weird noise, kind of like a mixture of a car starting up and a dog mumbling. “Every Heart is different. Can tell which when close, always.” A pause. His voice sounded so soft, so unnatural- Veri’s voice always sounded too young, too innocent for what he was. “I got it back. How do I put it back?” He had an expression now, he was giving Leo a look of desperation.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Leo flinched and shivered, face stumbling. “J-just let go of it. When you let go it’ll go back to its Body and Soul, or into limbo if it has a Nobody.” Very hesitantly, Veri obliged- loosening his grip and allowing the Heart to drift out of his hand. It rose into the air and twinkled like a star- and was gone.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Briefly Leo wanted to walk over to Veri, but found that he couldn’t. He had one more dire question to ask, one more worry to satiate. His brows furrowed and the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. “Veri.. if that was the Heart that you stole, was that.. was that your child?” Veri didn’t respond. “Did you just kill your own offspring?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Veri seemed to attempt to form an expression, but couldn’t find one that fit and defaulted to expressionlessness. “It was just kin. What is the importance of it? It had to die.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Leo’s face twisted in horror and bewildered sorrow. Then, human instinct welled up in the depths of his being, and took over. He advanced upon Veri, flames bursting alight upon his fists with only a subtle twitch. Veri shrunk, trauma flickering behind his eyes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tears pricked at the edges of Leo’s eyes, even though he should feel no remorse for the death of that Heartless, which he himself had originally planned to kill. “Aren’t you sad? You killed your own son!” With that Leo swung an overhead punch into Veri’s face, thrusting him to the ground and setting him on fire. Chest heaving, he watched as Veri tried to put out the flames with wild and confused eyes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Quieter, now- “Why aren’t you upset? That was your own offspring- and you killed them!” Veri was frantically rolling on the ground in an effort to snuff out the fire. When he succeeded and it was gone, he sat up and shakily lifted his head. With some struggle, he met Leo’s eyes. “They had to die.” Veri’s eyes widened, suddenly, and he shivered and made a strange sound. His mouth fumbled, jaw bouncing up and down as he tried to settle on something to say, but couldn’t. Claws involuntarily curling, he took a deep ‘breath’- an unnecessary action which served solely to communicate that he was preparing for a long winded speech.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Leo listened, flames still dancing around his clenched fists. “I pulled them apart. We have Hearts inside us for some reason- they don’t belong, but they’re there, and it still broke when I took it out. It was broken. I couldn’t stand its broken-ness.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Leo’s eyes hardened, then softened- flip-flopped between the two states. “So you’re saying.. it was a mercy kill?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I </span>
  <em>
    <span>broke</span>
  </em>
  <span> it. It didn’t know what it was anymore. It was gross.” Leo’s horror apparently had reason to remain. Veri mutilated that Heartless to such a point that it ‘broke’ on some fundamental level- and instead of feeling guilt, he felt disgust? “What do you </span>
  <em>
    <span>mean</span>
  </em>
  <span> by that? Veri, please, please elaborate, this is confusing and sounds really fucked up.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Veri took another deep ‘breath’. “It was disgusting. Simple as that.” Leo gave him a deeply dissatisfied face, and he tried again. “What would we have done with it? It was so broken, how would we fix it!? And, when it was fixed, to teach it to restrain itself- killing it was easier and better.” A pause, a false breath. “It had to die anyways. That Heart wouldn’t be able to become Somebody again if its Darkness was busy being a Heartless.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He looked to the side, and continued speaking before Leo could chime in with his response- “I’m more worried.. did I do the right thing?” Leo gave him an incredulous face- “What?!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Veri became </span>
  <em>
    <span>desperate</span>
  </em>
  <span>- “Did I make up for killing that person?!”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Wounded</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>I love hurt/comfort so much, I'm such trash lmfao :V</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Leo carried Veri over to the largest boulder, cradling him in his arms. He felt so small, like that- so very small and vulnerable. Gently, Leo set his charge down with his back propped up upon the boulder. In the absence of an actual operating table, or just a table, period- this big stone would have to suffice.</p><p>Nothing had ever made Leo wish he’d been more conservative with his magic than this. He’d wasted all his mp, and now he and Veri were trapped in the cave, <em> and Veri was direly wounded </em> . If he’d been more careful, he could have cast cure- and Veri would be up on his feet, helping clear the rubble, and <em> not at risk of dying </em>. Leo was unsure what would happen to Veri if he died- his existence was so fragile, now that he thought about it- he did not want to think about it.</p><p>Thankfully, Leo did still have his pack, and with it, all of his emergency supplies; <em>save for all the ethers he’d wasted fighting things </em>. Keeping his mind moving forward, Leo took out his first aid kit. He had no idea if bandages would actually help Veri, and with the way the wound was liquefying- he didn’t think it could be sutured shut.. but it was better than nothing.</p><p>Very gingerly, he began coiling the bandages around Veri’s middle. That horrible inner fluid oozed through slightly, though it actually seemed to be repelled by the fabric. Leaning over Veri to wrap his injury brought Leo’s face into the cloud of smoke, though. He struggled not to grimace, the smell was horrible- motor oil and formaldehyde, with a faint trace of decaying insect corpse. It smelled like all of Mom’s jobs and hobbies mixed into one horrible stench-cocktail of greasy robots and preserved dead things. Granted, Veri always smelled like this, but you had to really shove your face into his fur to catch a whiff of it normally. Inhaling the smoke, the odor of Darkness was overpowering.</p><p>When he was finally done, and no more smoke wafted up from Veri’s wound to assault Leo’s nose- he gently tapped him on the shoulder. “Hey.. Veri. Did that help at all?” Veri responded with a melancholy whimper; a soft beeping sound, like a sad hospital monitor bleep-bleeping information about a sick patient. Leo gently pet the fur on Veri’s chest in an effort to comfort him. “I know it hurts, but we have to get going. Can you stand up?”</p><p>Veri’s eyes pinched tighter shut and he started shaking his head. Leo was about to slip his arms under his back and carry him again, when Veri sat up under his own power. Slowly and shakily, and with a high-pitched whine, he stood. Not seconds afterwards he staggered, but caught his fall with one hand, using the boulder for support. With a forced and jerky nod, Veri took a hesitant step forward.</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>The rest of the walk was torturous. Leo constantly offered to carry Veri, or at least hold his hand- but he kept refusing his help. Yet, to Leo’s great torment, Veri wouldn’t say anything other than ‘hurts, hurts!’ as he shambled along, clutching his middle. Leo swore, when they found this keyblader again- he was going to fuck him up. For them to hurt his best friend like this- Veri, who had become so gentle and who generally kept himself out of fights- it filled Leo with a great rage.</p><p>Veri, who enjoyed tagging along with Leo on his adventures not for fighting monsters, but for the simple joy of exploring and discovering, finding treasure and charting unknown lands. The retired gladiator, who worked so hard to be good, to never hurt anyone unless there was no other choice.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. I made you a bread!</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Just some cutesy plotbunny garbage.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Veri had been in the kitchen for a while now. Leo honestly had no idea what he was making, but it must have been fairly complex. Usually whenever Veri needed to cook, he’d make something simple, like ramen noodles. The kinds of things that didn’t require a sense of taste to prepare- just put it in a bowl, fill to the line and pop it in the microwave. </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>Although, there was that one time- when Veri tried to make spaghetti. He’d made the noodles alright, simply boiling them until soft; but had been at a loss with the sauce. Leo still felt really bad about the way he reacted to that sauce-drowned, salty pasta. Poor Veri had assumed that you were supposed to just dump the whole (absolutely fucking massive) can of sauce, and physically couldn’t tell when he’d added enough salt. </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>Soft footsteps drew Leo out of his thoughts. The bedroom door was gingerly opened, and in stepped Veri.. backwards. Leo cocked an eyebrow- “What’s this about?”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>Veri responded by turning around, then holding his arms out a bit to display what he held. He had.. a round loaf of bread, with two little cuts on the top. “I made you a bread!” His cheerful little face was too much to handle. </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>Leo accepted the bread with a smile that was strangled by the cuteness. “Awww, that’s adorable!” He wanted to drag Veri into a hug, but couldn’t, he was holding the loaf of bread. Veri simply sat down on the foot of the bed, as if to make up for it. </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>The bread was warm, actually. Like it was fresh out of an oven. “Veri, did you like- bake this? From dough?” Veri nodded. Leo gave another ‘awww!’, and took a bite of the bread. It was actually fairly good. ... Leo had a feeling that the new googol voice in the living room had something to do with that. Still, Veri’s ability to measure and utilize the ingredients as instructed was still pretty impressive. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Gettin' metaphysical</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Idk how, but Leo is temporarily lent the ability to perceive the world in the same way that Heartless do. Veri spends this brief window of opportunity bonding with Leo as he studies what it's like to perceive things in such a strange way.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was curious, being able to ‘see’ as Veri did. Leo found himself hyperaware of the people around him- where they were, how they felt, what they intended to do, and even glimpses of their thoughts and memories, if he focused on a given person. Apparently much of this information was nebulous to Veri, though- Leo found he only understood what these complex perceptions meant through human instinct. Leo knew what all of these emotions and desires were like, and knew intimately how a human’s thoughts worked- because he was one himself. The tugs and ebbs and flows and currents from wholly foreign Hearts were familiar in their basic form to him.</p><p>Looking around, turning his awareness to ‘look’ at Veri- Leo fought to suppress his fear (which he could perceive with these weird Heartless senses, he found, to his chilling realization). Veri appeared as something wholly alien to Leo- a Black patch of vanta black void, but with a set of moving currents all its own. These currents were difficult to pick apart in that deep Black, and even after Leo got the hang of ‘seeing’ them clearly, everything about them was all wrong. Veri was apparently calm yet excited, and curious- but the rhythm of his roiling Darkness did not indicate as such. It did not even resemble a mismatched set of emotions and desires- Veri's patterns were wholly unique. </p><p>Then there was the blue (but also green) mass of willpower. It was an iridescent sheen, crinkling with the texture of the Flow, though spread out quite evenly over Veri’s Darkness. It was willpower, a lone component of a full Soul; which Leo recognized because in addition to Hearts, he could also perceive Souls. Not very clearly, the perception was surprisingly imperfect- but he could detect their presence and most basic of qualities. </p><p>Most terrifying was that merely being able to perceive these things enabled Leo to engage in a somewhat tangible interaction with them. Though he couldn’t touch anything, by virtue of Leo still being human and thus not a metaphysical abomination like Heartless were- Leo could use the ebbs and tugs and flows of these currents to convey information. If he focused on someone, and focused his intent, the movements of his own currents would brush past those of the person he was focusing on. Like ripples in a pond, that brief contact caused a change in the other current, and information- intent, and a mixture of feeling and desire- was communicated. Voiceless, wordless, thoughtless- a raw concept only. </p><p>Apparently, Veri could not do this; at least, not with Somebodies. Veri did not use Heart and Soul as his medium- he used Darkness itself. Lacking instinctual understanding of Somebody Experiences, when Veri attempted to communicate, the message was indecipherable. A deeply frightening pattern of moving Darkness, attempting to touch the constrained Darkness within a Heart. </p><p>When Leo tried to do this in the inverse direction- Heart and Soul to Darkness- there was also confusion, a language barrier. Vexingly, however, there was less of it in this direction. With enough strength, understanding could be <em> forced </em> by a Heart and genuine Soul. Veri described the intent communicated to him in this way as ‘sounding’ distinctly off-key, but understandable. Additionally, with enough strength to make itself so well heard- this intent appeared with a rank higher than his own, and was thus very difficult for him to ignore. However, he could still recognize it as foreign- a stranger inserting itself into his Heartless ‘hivemind’. If the Somebody became weak, and their voice thus quieter- their rank would wane, and would be easily challenged due to its foreign nature. </p><p>There was one feeling which Leo did succeed in learning to identify in Veri, though. A baleful, wild hunger, suppressed by his shimmering willpower. It was omnipresent, impossible to miss, the first pattern Leo ‘saw’ every time he ‘looked’ Veri’s way. When Leo observed a ‘normal’ Heartless- another Soldier, actually- this hunger was unrestrained. It moved freely, spiking whenever the Heartless ‘looked’ at a Heart, and growling softly when it observed any meaningful quantity of Darkness. These motions had also been present in Veri’s hunger, Leo realized- but they had been quashed, subdued by years of discipline. </p><p>Ever more stirring of existential horror was the experiment Leo conducted, just to see what it ‘looked’ like from this new perspective. With monumental quantities of trust, and a turbulent movement of Darkness which Leo was fairly certain to have been fear, he allowed Veri to touch his Heart. Veri’s hand slipped seamlessly inside Leo’s chest regardless of physical barriers, simultaneously tangible and metaphysical. It felt cold, but not freezing- lower than human body temperature, like a reptile. Tilting his head down, Leo watched Veri move shaking claws next to his Heart with terrifying, surgical precision. He looked him in the eyes, attempted a pulse of incommunicable intent- and let his claws brush over Leo’s Heart. Then, Veri yelped, flailing some frenzied emotion at Leo, and violently (though harmlessly) pulling his hand away. Leo was startled too, it had felt so <em> weird</em>, but he hadn’t been afraid. </p><p>Veri was stepping back, a look of terror on his face, shivering like it was below zero. Leo didn’t need him to say why, but Veri did so anyway, in a fragile, whispering tone- “I wanted-want to devour it. Too close! So long, so long since I’d been that close.. please, h-help, I-I’m so hungry!” Leo was shoving a large jar of concentrated Darkness into Veri’s fumbling hands before he could finish talking. </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. An exploration of intimacy</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Oops, all monster romance!</p><p>(as you can tell, I am a hopeless past Invader Zim shipper :V antennae intimacy nonsense bleeding over into this was inevitable lmfao)</p><p>Also yes I very much headcannon that the funky antennae many of the Heartless have are sensory organs/structures, and that Soldiers and such still have antennae underneath their helmets. (My reasoning for this has to do with another headcannon, which is that the Hearltess can have phylogeny? The 'soldiers have antennae' headcannon is pretty much just the result of me applying some phylogenetic bracketing to them.)</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Veri was seated at the living room desk, scribbling away on a sheet of paper. Notably, however, he had his helmet off- leaning his antennae exposed and free to idly wiggle around. </p><p>I approached Veri slowly, bent down a little, and gently reach towards him with one hand- and poked one of his antennae with my finger. The twitchy appendage jerked away from the contact immediately, and Veri flinched.</p><p>“Leo no! Those are sensitive!” Veri whipped around, jaws parted in a snarl, and smacked my hand away. “Ow! Veri!” Veri just growled at me. I sighed, “... sorry, I was just trying to be playful.” Veri nodded gruffly and picked his pen back up.</p><p>Now I was curious, though! Veri had his helmet off so rarely, it wasn’t often that I got to see his crumpled, wiggly feelers. To be honest, I still wasn’t sure what they did- they always seemed to be moving though, like they were being used to sniff for something or to feel the air. I pulled out a chair and sat down next to Veri. He growled quietly.</p><p>“I know you’re annoyed with me right now, but I’m curious.” Veri tilted his head slightly to show that he was looking at me. “What exactly do your antennae do?” I pointed at them, though I kept my hand a good distance away.</p><p>“They are sensory. I use them to, it’s not really smelling, but to help in sensing Hearts; and to feel the air. They are very sensitive to touch.” I nodded while Veri paused, preparing his voice to keep talking. “Shadows use them to feel around when they can’t see, and to investigate objects tactually. Like running fingers over something to feel it’s texture.”</p><p>“I don’t like them being touched unannounced. It feels weird. Startling.” He glared at me, “Please don’t do that again.”</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>Veri nuzzled into my neck, purring as I stroked the velvety fuzz on his back. Then he pulled away, and for a moment I was confused, gazing forlornly into his.. mischievous eyes? Veri parted his jaws, and made a staticcy, crackling, bouncy sound- an imitation giggle. It sounded kind of like a hyena’s laugh, but played on an old, very broken radio.</p><p>Then he leaned back in, but differently this time- Veri pushed his antennae forward, and ghosted them over my throat. It felt just like a bug, dancing twitchy feelers over my skin. He continued making that old radio hyena sound, but the he-he-he-he’s blended into each other, becoming a wavering, happy whine. I was a little jealous, for a moment- what must this feel like for Veri? What was it like, to have hypermobile, tactile antennae, and to run them over human skin? Could he feel the thin layer of oils? The tiny, tiny hairs? All I could know for the time being was what they felt like from my end; slightly ticklish, feather-soft threads, whipping back and forth and tracing the curves of my throat.</p><p>Nevermind that this was probably a behavior which Veri strongly associated with assessing the quality, the ‘taste’ of a Heart before eating it. That he was probably involuntarily picking up on the nuances of <em> my</em> Heart, even through all the layers of skin and flesh and bone and <em> existence </em> . Somewhere deep down I hoped he thought it looked or smelled or tasted or whatever it was- satisfactory, something he’d like. That I came up to his standards and.. flavor preferences. I just also hoped that he had the self control to resist acting on that assessment, because as exciting as the thought was I didn’t actually want to let Veri eat my Heart- and kill me.</p><p>Meanwhile Veri’s voice twitched, stopped and started again. “You’re.. What is that feeling? Why is it aimed at me? In.. am I interpreting the- ‘way’ correctly?”</p><p>Veri went quiet and I went still. We looked into each other’s eyes, and to my bewilderment Veri pressed his antennae more firmly to my neck, rather than pulling them away. Expression changing, becoming one of concentration, he moved down to my chest, his antennae flicking around rapidly but hovering over my heart. I stiffened.</p><p>“I.. I think I’m putting these feelings together correctly. I, oof, Somebody emotions are so complex, please correct me if I am wrong...”</p><p>Veri took a deep ‘breath’, and I glanced around at my sides, clenching my teeth. “Y-yes, you’re Heart is.. decent enough. Not very Dark, though.. Not a, a ‘taste’ that is strong. But still pleasant. There are good things in your Heart. You have interesting experiences.”</p><p>I was holding my breath, scared but somehow enraptured by a strange curiosity. “But I wouldn’t want to.. sample them. They’re yours. It’s wrong to steal.”</p><p>Veri had already pulled away, but now he <em> pushed </em> himself off of me, trying to put distance between us. “Y-you’re thinking about it,” his voice cracked and I realized that he was trying to sob. “But I don’t want to go back to that! I don’t want to be a killer ever again, I don’t want to relapse, I-I, I never want to taste a Heart again. No matter how hungry it makes me. I, I.. s-sorry!”</p><p>Washed over and permeated by guilt, I grasped onto Veri’s back again, and pulled him close. He struggled and made some horrible, inhuman whimper. I hugged him closer and stroked his back again, the way he liked, that always comforted him. “It’s ok. People ponder about strange, dangerous things whenever possible, kind of involuntarily sometimes. What you felt was just that mindless curiosity getting mixed up with my love for you.”</p><p>Veri rammed his antennae into my chest, for a few long seconds, to- he was checking my emotions, trying to read me and fact check for truth. He nodded acceptingly, though his body continued to shake. “O-OK.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. Evil creatures don’t get treats</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>For context, the flashback Veri has in this drabble was of himself cannibalizing a fellow Heartless after having been starved during his time as a gladiator. (Sol managed to catch another Heartless, and decided to see what would happen if he put it in the same room as Veri.) In the current timeframe of this drabble, Veri is being tempted by an unnamed/undefined villain, who tries to offer him a Heart while he's separated from Leo.</p><p>(the 'treat' which Leo offers Veri is a vial of concentrated Darkness, not a Heart.)</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>There was a hungry sheen in the backs of Veri’s eyes as he observed the Heart. His jaws involuntarily parted, empty need welling up and trying to take hold of him. Rather than reach out, as he found himself so desperately wanting to- Veri’s claws simply twitched where they were. Meanwhile the void spreading eternally throughout his being suddenly felt so much wider and deeper than before. ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>You haven’t eaten in years. Poor darling, come on in, have your fill.</span>
  </em>
  <span>’ Veri watched the Heart being brought closer and closer to his face with wide eyes and a tense body. Its glow gazed back at him with a subtly dangerous, vaguely seductive allure.</span>
</p><p><span>‘</span><em><span>You’re malnourished, dear! Hurry, eat up and you’ll start to feel better.</span></em><span>’ The cool, refreshing feel of the Darkness waiting for him beneath the threatening warmth of the Light- seemed to reach out, to meet him. </span><span><br/></span> <span>A slight burning sensation on the tips of his claws. The hunger pushed Veri forward with a painful jolt. He’d spent so long trying to forget, to ignore the sensation- of starving. </span><span><br/></span></p><p>
  <span>Shaking talons took gingerly hold of the delicate crystal structure of the Heart. It pulsed, fear, there is fear here, even in this state. An unconscious twitch of dread. Feeling it whetted a dark, suppressed appetite where Veri’s heart should have been. ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>It’s ok, you’re going to be ok. See? You’ll recover much faster on a full belly.</span>
  </em>
  <span>’ </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>A small thought swam through the void, burrowed into the substance beyond it, and made its voice known. A terrible poison seeped in, and necrosis threatened to claim the comforting taste of the Darkness. Veri’s claws began to shiver with mounting intensity, and he struggled to maintain his grip on his prey. ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>But no, no-one would ever love you like that. You’re evil. Evil creatures don’t get treats.</span>
  </em>
  <span>’ </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Veri made a soft whimper, that filling warmth was burning him- ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>Hello, friend. I’m scared; please, let’s not be alone.</span>
  </em>
  <span>’ Veri dropped the Heart, his hunger conflicting in a roiling mass with an unmatchable horror. ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>You’re so terribly hungry. We’ll go catch food together.</span>
  </em>
  <span>’ A piercing whine strung through the air as Veri backed away. ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>(Something is wrong). Are you ok? I don’t understand, what are you saying?</span>
  </em>
  <span>’ </span>
</p><p>
  <span>A terrible wail filled the space, drowning out all other mortal sounds. ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>No, no, stop, please, why are you- why would you- please, please, please-</span>
  </em>
  <span>‘</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was a distant vision glazing over Veri’s eyes. He did not stop crying for even a moment, simply curling up into a ball of bristling fur and ceaseless howling. The Heart was picked back up and waved at his face, but to no avail. Veri made no response at all, despite having previously been overtaken by the temptation of the offered meal. He just kept screaming and whimpering, eyes open but wholly unseeing. </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
    <br/>
  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“That was.. unexpected. I expected it to crumble and devour the Heart with rapturous glee. Not.. whatever the hell this mess is. It had been so convinced- what the hell happened to it? What the fuck is its problem now?!”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
    <br/>
  </span>
</p><hr/><p>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“Veri! Veri, oh god... Shh, it’s me, it’s Leo. You’re not back there, you’re safe, you’re here and now. What the hell did this to you... Here, have a treat, okay?”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“...” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m going to rip the legs off of whoever dunked you into a flashback of </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0016"><h2>16. Uneasy Night</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>
  <b>Probably the last of these, for now!</b>
</p><p> </p><p>I think I've managed to scrounge up all the presentable drabbles, but who knows, I might stumble across more buried in my files :V</p><p>This one is from the perspective of one of Leo’s (unnamed) friends, who’s spending the night at Leo and Veri’s house, and has only just met Veri.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>I would never understand how Leo felt comfortable enough to sleep whilst a Heartless was in his house. Unrestrained, free to move about the premises as it pleased. And the Heartless did not- apparently inherently could not sleep. It was active and awake at all times of day- and night. Henceforth I was unfortunately afflicted with a terrible inability to sleep myself. Alert and subtly on edge no matter how much I tried to relax or how eerily civil the Heartless had spoken to me before. </span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
</p><p>
  <span>In my starlit worrying, as I browsed websites and played games on my phone to numb my mind- I came to an interesting observation. Or perhaps, a lack of observation- because I never noticed a single sound emanating from the room in which the Heartless currently resided. It didn’t sleep, but it was so silent- could Leo have been wrong? Less comforting and much more dreadful- could it be that the Heartless was in fact not in that room?</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
</p><p>
  <span>No longer able to contain my anxiety, I found myself with a curious willpower- enough that I was now standing before and tempted to touch the door to that room. The handle, simple silver metal, perhaps crude [aluminum?], caught in the starlight. Beckoning me to grasp it with a ghostly touch and twist it stealthily, to open that door and peer inside. Leaning a bit forward, I still caught not a single sound through the plastic, but wood-textured door. The temptation persisted and prospered. </span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And then, the door was ajar, delicately so- such that it did not creak. And through that two inch sliver, I was greeted with the sight of- utter darkness. I had been expecting starlight or moonlight, at this late an hour, but as I now recalled, the Heartless’s room had no windows. When the rest of the house was dim, even with the door beginning to open, not nearly enough light reached into that room for a human to see. </span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Thus a new dilemma came to me; I could reach for the light switch, I could ask if there was anyone in the room, or I could simply close the door and return to the games on my phone. I knew that the Heartless seemed civil enough, but it never seemed to be without Leo, either. It could well be that it pretended to be friendly when it was within sight of a mage or other person who could actually harm it...</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Which left another contemplation- if that was the case, would it indeed not be in this room? The Heartless was genuinely unrestrained, without even the Light Collar to keep it away from Corridors now. It could well be out in the streets, feasting on Hearts. And if it was in this room, but the acting hypothesis were also true- would it be hostile to late night intruders?</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
</p><p>
  <span>My buzzing thoughts and great hesitations were interrupted, however. A small voice, soft yet oddly mechanical, called out to me through that veil of darkness. “What’s the matter?”</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
</p><p>
  <span>I struggled to respond to that- but it was also comforting to hear, despite the Heartless’s mildly unnerving little voice. At the moment, it seemed to only display concern, rather than any sort of territorial aggression. So, I tentatively formed a response- “There was a weird bug in the shower, and Leo is sleeping,, but,, he said that you didn’t sleep,, so I figured I’d ask you..”</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
</p><p>
  <span>There was a pause. Then, the sound of a bed creaking softly as a weight was removed from it- and very faintly, quiet paw-steps approaching the door. Accompanying those noises was a statement that sucked the further responses and all the nerve out of me: “But there’s no bugs in the house, and you’re way too scared to be here about a bug anyways.”</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luminous yellow eyes peered back at me through the door crack. “What’s the real problem? Nobody’s hurt as far as I can tell, so..” </span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Where had my nerve gone? Into the pit of my stomach as I remembered that Heartless could perceive the locations and qualities of nearby Hearts. The Heartless knew the movements of more than just bugs around its house- it knew that I had been standing in front of its door all this time. On top of that, it could apparently tell not only that I was scared, but how scared. Leo had said that it could scarcely make any sense of human emotions!</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
</p><p>
  <span>I found myself stumbling back quite the distance when the Heartless pushed the door open and took a step into the starlight. It walked right up to me, its bladed helmet and savage claws glinting slightly in the silver lighting. As dreadfully ominous as it appeared, especially at night- its voice remained soft, despite the distressed look of its eyes. </span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Please, if you’re coming to me when you’re this scared, it must be very serious.” When I failed to respond, the Heartless remained quiet for a bit, perhaps to see if I merely needed a moment to find my words. When I didn’t, it decided to pose a different question. </span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is it me? Were you checking to see if I was still where you thought I was?” Further pausing, my eyes darting wildly, mind unsure if I should try and abscond. A confirmation, apparently- the Heartless was savvier than I had been told. “I promise that I won’t hurt you, or anyone. I don’t eat Hearts anymore, even though it leaves me very hungry all of the time. Even though your fear is whetting predatory instincts in me, I won’t indulge them.” It winced when I did. “If you were worried about what horrible things I must do at night, rest easy knowing that I don’t actually do much.”</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hearing that yes, it could sense my fear- and that sensing it made it hungrier did not help much. However, hearing yet again that this Heartless was strong of soul enough to refuse such vicious urges, constantly, did- if only slightly. Thus, against my wariness, human curiosity persisted. “What </span>
  <em>
    <span>do</span>
  </em>
  <span> you do at night?”</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Heartless seemed somewhat uplifted by that query. “I don’t sleep, but I like to rest, sort of. I get comfortable under the blanket, close my eyes, and try to think about nothing.”</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That description actually added a gentle dimension to the Heartless’s character; it sounded like- “So, you get cozy and meditate?”</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It made a sort of artificial gasp and nodded. “Yes, that’s the name for it! I enjoy meditating at night. It feels peaceful, and since everyone else is quietly sleeping at night, night is the ideal time for it.”</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
</p><p>
  <span>That was, surprisingly human, if a little mechanically worded. Subtly, the tension was leaving me as the possibility of danger became increasingly insignificant. “I see.” Unfortunately, I had no idea what to say in response. </span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Heartless was apparently ready to settle in for the long haul- they sat down on the arm of the nearby reclining chair in the living room.  With faint hesitation, I followed their lead and took a seat on the couch. </span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If I’m not meditating, though, there are other things that I like to do during the night. Sometimes I’ll read, or I’ll play a video game.” I nodded, with an internal temptation to comment on the surprising mundanity of the entertainment that the Heartless was listing. </span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t do it when we have guests, but I also like to sing- quietly, that is. Or, maybe it’s more simply playing with my voice? It’s already hard to mimic the sounds of speech alone, but someday I want to be able to control the pitch and tone, too.” As they touched on the subject, the Heartless at first looked mildly excited- but by the end, they took on a look of sorrowful longing. </span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Their voice was an unnerving, rather monotone imitation overlaid with static and strange inorganic sounds. Their words were comprehensible, but they sounded distinctly inhuman. Like a cell phone’s voice command persona, or a text-to-speech computer program. What would it even sound like if they tried to sing?</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, seeing as I’m wide awake- would you be ok with singing now?” A flinch. “I’m curious about what it sounds like.” And then-</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Soft sounds, some of them resembling human words, others entirely alien. A little symphony of mechanical noises and tones, but all of a gingerly whispering quality. There was little variance in the surprisingly smooth tone, but here and there were brief dips into something quite melancholy. Which, though the majority of the melody was largely of a uniform pitch, gave the song as a whole a deeper sense of meaning. What, I couldn’t discern, but it was certainly introspective and somewhat sad. </span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Then, through about the middle of the song, I realized that I could, in fact, make out a few words. Blending with the other, presumably instrumental sounds, was- ‘I’m nothing, no-one. But I’m still here,’ the strain of changing the pitch and tone made it somewhat garbled, breaking up some of the sentences- ‘your voice, your touch- and I remember that somehow I am alive anyways.’</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The rest of the song was harder to decipher, but maintained the same mood and rhythm as the earlier parts. Except for the very last section of words and notes, for which the Heartless closed their eyes- and they managed to produce a deeply soft and contented tone. With decent clarity, I could hear a quiet and gentle- ‘Thank you.’</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was a bit strange, the sort of inhuman sounds that they made, but the Heartless’s short song managed to leave me in awe. With such a convoluted method of imitation speech as they used, singing must be a real endeavor for them. Yet, they pulled it off, despite the fact that they were forced to reserve nuanced tones for only the most emotional parts.  Suddenly they genuinely felt like a person- they had never once tried to harm me, instead worrying for my wellbeing. They had struggles and rich feelings, just like anyone else did. And, depending on whether they wrote this song themself or simply heard it somewhere- they seemed to understand love. </span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Actually, I ought to ask- “That was surprisingly pretty, actually.” The Heartless’s face lit up, their eyes seeming to shimmer and their jaws parted slightly in what I presumed was meant to be a smile. “I’d like to ask, were you preforming a song you heard from memory, or did you make it up yourself?”</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A slight look of bashfulness, accompanying a nod. “I made it. Most of my other songs were too sad or ugly, but that one was the happiest, and I’ve practiced it the most.”</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
</p><p>
  <span>I nodded, too- and then decided to tentatively ask one more question- “May I ask what your song was about?”</span>
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  <span>Some definitely bashful body language, and a soft-spoken reply: “Moirailegeance.” And then it clicked, I understood exactly who that song was about. The Heartless- Veri had a moirail, and that person could only be Leo. I’d been told stories of Veri facing off keybladers and other threats- and nearly dying- to protect Leo. And in the first story I’d been told, about how and why Leo even had Veri with him in the first place- Leo had rescued Veri from a life of torment. Leo, cup-catcher of spiders, managed to hold empathy for some wounded but very dangerous Heartless. </span>
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  <span>In exchange for Leo’s unbiased kindness, for his guardianship- Veri would face his greatest fears should need be. Veri was a Heartless, he really should be no-one, nothing, but Leo’s gentle reassurances made him feel like a person. Suddenly, I understood why Leo felt safe enough to sleep- and suddenly, I felt like I could too. </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Heyo! <i>I'm impressed by your patience for my nonsense</i> :V</p><p>As your reward, <a href="https://www.deviantart.com/incyray/art/Veri-reference-sheet-848454692">here's what Veri looks like now!</a> He's kind of moved on from being a fan character (he's his own thing now!), but he still carries a lot of his original themes and personality, and even general story outline.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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